Hinged sheave construction



Dec. 4, 1951 HORTON 2,577,523

HINGED SHEAVE CONSTRUCTION Filed Nov. 22, 1949 5 Sheets-Sheet l jaJeTcZO? 2? WWW Dec. 4, 1951 w. B. HORTON 2,577,523

HINGED SHEAVE CONSTRUCTION Filed Nov. 22, 1949 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Dec. 4, 1951 I w HORTON 2,577,523

HINGED SHEAVE CONSTRUCTION Filed Nov. 22, 1949 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 jar/672207 Dec. 4, 1951 w B, HORTON 2,577,523

HINGED SHEAVE CONSTRUCTION Filed Nov. 22, 1949 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Dec. 4, 1951 W. HORTON HINGED SHEAVE CONSTRUCTION 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Nov. 22, 1949 Patented Dec. 4, 1951 UNITED STATES PAT OFFICE 2,57l,523

HINGED SHEAVE CONSTRUCTION- William B; Horton, Groton, Massg, assigno'r to H; E; Fletcher Company, West Ghelmsforfl,.- Mass:, a corporation of Massachusetts.

Application November 22, 1949,. Serial No. 128,815

Z Clai'ms. 1.

This invention relates to' an improved sheave unit which maybe employed in combination with conventional wire sawing apparatus for selectively guiding an endless wire saw along difierent paths of movement desired to be followed in the course of moving the saw into contact with stone surfaces in quarries and at other points where stone processing operations are carried out.

Inthecourse of such sawing operations, there frequently arise occasions where a great deal of flexibility is'required. A particular instance of this is in connection with leading'a rapidly moving endless wire" saw into and out of a stonequarrywhere-a relatively large amount of power equipment, such as derricks, masts, guy wires and the like are in use. Since a conventional wire" saw device is of relatively cumbersome nature; such an" apparatus is difiicult to move about. A common practice is toresort to'a permanently installed supporting structure between the" component parts of which the wire moves along a substantially straight line. A the wire leaves thi's' fixed structure; it must be' turned from its straight line path in order' to guide the wire around obstructions referred to or to-reach a desired point which isnot directly in line with the supporting'structure. Also it usually is the casethatst'one production may be in progress at sev-' era'l different levels in the" quarry or outside of' the quarry,. and hence it may berequired to changezthe direction'of tlie wire in'vertical planes inorder' to guide-the wire above and below certain points in the quarry-*as well' as around them.

An object" of the invention thereforeis to devise: an. improved sheave arrangement which is capable" of handlingrelativelylong lengths of' a wire' saw: with greatly increased flexibility in makingsharp turns or in going from one level to another.having:v dueregard for: the fact that the wire is traveling:at'a-relatively high rate of speed. It is-also'anobject of' the invention to combine with. conventional sawing sheaves and conventional: wire; furnishing: means, a set of' orienting or guide sheaves so: arranged as to prevent the wire member from fallingaway'from either one orsbotrnot the'sheave' members during a drop in the; tensionzirr the wire such. as may take place for instance during a change in demand of the sawing sheaves; or? when a break in the wire occurs; or when operationof the apparatus is broughttoia'halt.

It :is stilllfurth'er aniob'jectxof the invention to provide: a portable orienting." sheave unit' which" canireadily be moved. about: into various relative positions: between: sawing: sheaves? and wire fure nishin'gmeans where" most convenient operating conditions may be encountered. Still another object of the invention is" to' improve wire sawing equipment generally and todevise moreefiicient and cheaper sawing operations which will increase'quarry output and reduce thetim'e'an'd" labor involved as well as preventing Waste" of stone.

These'an'd other objects and novel features will be more fully understood and appreciated fromthe following de'scriptibnof a preferredembo'diment of the invention; selected for purposes. of illustration and shown in" the accompanying drawing; in which Fig. I is a view in side. elevation illustrating diagrammatically a sectlon'of aquarrvand awire sawing apparatus which includes the orienting sheave arrangement of the? invention arranged in a typical operating'position"; I

Fig. 2 is a plan view further: illustrating parts of the wire'sawingapparatus shown inFi'g. l and indicating diagrammatically one' method of reevin'g a wiresaw element in supporting towers;

Fig. 3 is a sideelevational view illustrating" diagrammatically wire furnishin'g means arranged to supply'wire in accordance with thedemand-ofa typical wiresawing'tower;

Fig; 4 is a planview'diagrammatically indicating a series of diflerentpathsalong-which awire saw may be" desiredto" be guided in connection with' one type-ofsawingoperation;

Fig. 5 is-a sideelevational view illustratin'g one form of' orienting sheave" unit of the invention:

Fig. 6 is an enlarged" fragmentaryelevational view" partly in cross section'- of the sheave unit" sh'own'in Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is-aplan view"'o'f-th'e"'deviceshown inFigs; 5ia-nd6 Fig; 8' is an elevational view of a modified sheave'supportingmechanism;

Fig. 9' is-a' plan viewofanotherform of sheave unit'ofthe-invention;

Fig. 10*is a plan cross-sectional viewtaken on" the line l 0-l DofFig? 9';

Fig. 11 is a" cross section taken onitheline |1'--I l'of'Fi'g; 9;

Fig; 12 isa side" eleva'ti'ona'l view of another form of sheave mounting:

Fig. 13 is a detail pla'h view-ofa part" of the st'ructureshownin Fig. 12; and

Fig; 14' is a diagrammatic view illustrating an alternate sheave and wiraposition';

The sheave me'chanism of tiieinventiorrmaybe more easilyunderstood from'a considerationi of one" practical appii'cat'icm in agranitequarry" although it should be understood that the invention is not limited to this mode of operation or to the application hereinafter described. Attention is directed to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings in which there has been indicated diagrammatically a typical arrangement of an endless wire saw apparatus as employed for example in cutting or sawing relatively hard mineral bodies such as are found in granite quarries of the open it type. Such an open pit quarry, shown diagrammatically in Fig. 4, may include a considerable area and extend into the earth for a depth of from one to several hundred feet. Regardless of the point at which the saw is to be applied, it should be understood that there is necessarily involved an apparatus of considerable magnitude and especially so with respect to the sawing wire, which is required to have a substantial reach.

Then too in actual practice, sawing of the relatively harder stones such as granite may result in greatly increased wear of the wire saw element. To reduce such wear, it is helpful to utilize greatly increased lengths of wire saw. Thus as an instance of suitable saw dimensions applied successfully in one open pit quarrying operation, there have been employed helical wire saws in lengths running from 10,000 feet or less all the way up to 20,000 feet or more. A gang of these saws in the lengths indicated, and including as many as six or more separate saws, may be oper ated simultaneously, running in parallel spacedapart relation to one another.

Under these conditions, it will be understood that extensive wire supporting structures and sheaves are desirable both for supporting and driving these relatively great lengths of wire. In the apparatus shown in Figs. 1-4 inclusive, a series of supporting towers or stands are arranged in line with one another in a direction extending away from the quarry for a suitable distance such as for example 1500 feet. The towers in each instance may have a height of from 50 to 100 feet and a span of roughly 40 to 60 feet. Each tower is provided with multiple sheave means along which the series of wire saws may be driven under a tension of about 300 pounds at speeds of from 3000 up to 4000 feet per minute for example.

For purposes of understanding the invention, the sawing apparatus illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 may be thought of as being made up of three principal parts comprising a pair of sawing towers and a vertically adjustable set of sawing sheaves for urging a wire into sliding contact with a granite or other rock surface; wire furnishing means for delivering the wire in suitable lengths in response to demand of the sawing sheaves; and orienting sheaves interposed between the sawing towers and the wire furnishing means at one or more points. The wire furnishing means ordinarily includes the wire supporting towers shown at the right of Fig. 1; power means for driving the wire, preferably located outside the quarry in close proximity to one of the towers; and a mechanism associated with the power means for varying the length of the wire while maintaining a substantially constant tension (Fig. 3). In the arrangement about to be described, the sheave mechanism of the invention is employed in one of the towers as a constituent part of the wire furnishing means but may be otherwise utilized as will appear at another point in the description.

In the. structure shown in Fig. 1, numeral I denotes an endless wire saw member. One desirable reeving arrangement for the wire I0 r the top of the sheave.

has been suggested in Fig. 2. As noted in these figures, saw member I 0 is shown supported in a raised position by means of three wire supporting structures or towers I2, I4 and I6, each of which may for example consist of a metal framework bolted together and mounted at spacedapart intervals in alinement with the quarry as suggested in Fig. 4.

Tower I2 carries the orienting sheave mechanism of the invention. As noted by arrows (Fig. 1), the wire member I0 passes over conventional guide sheaves ISa of tower I6, and two sets of conventional guide sheaves I4a and Mb of tower I4. The improved sheave unit of the invention including orienting sheaves 28, 30, 28a and 30a are mounted in tower I2. As shown diagrammatically in Fig. l, the two sets of orienting sheaves lie one above another, of which a lower set of sheaves 28 and 30 receive outgoing portions of wire l0, and an upper set of sheaves 28a and 30a. carry incoming portions of wire I0.

Preferably the three towers I2, I4 and I6 are engaged in substantial alinement with one another (as shown in Fig. 4) so that the wire I0 is guided along vertical planes which deviate only slightly from the planes of rotation of the sheaves. Wire I0 passes to a power-driven sheave I8, preferably mounted outside the quarry pit between tower I2 and tower I4. Near unit I8 is located a mechanism 20 for maintaining tension and for varying the length of wire in operation at any given time in response to the demand of the sawing towers, indicated at the lower lefthand side of Fig. 1. Included in the sawing towers 22 is a set of four sheaves 22a, 22b, 22c and 22d. Sheaves 22c and 22d are vertically adjustable by means of a conventional winch mechanism 22c (Fig. 3). Sheaves 22a and 22b are secured at the upper sides of the sawing towers in some convenient manner.

The upper set of orienting sheaves of the invention as utilized in tower I2, has been illustrated in greater detail in Figs. 5-7 inclusive. As shown therein, sheave 28a is mounted for rotation in a. vertical plane on a shaft 40 supported between a pair of arms 42. The latter members 42 are solidly secured to an upright 44 which is a part of the framework of the tower I2. The remaining parts of the tower consist of a pair of supporting legs 46 and 48 which are angularly disposed and meet with the upright 44. The lower ends of the legs extend downwardly to join with triangular base members 50, 52 and 54. At the bottom of tower l2 are solidly secured corner pieces 5| which are formed with openings through which may be received fastening means for detachably anchoring the tower in a desired position in a quarry.

Sheave 28a is suspended by means of arms 42 from the upright 44 at two points, one of which occurs well above the top of the sheave, the other of which occurs below the sheave to furnish a rigid braced support which is capable of withstanding a considerable vertical load exerted on This arrangement, together with the triangular type tower construction, affords a high degree of strength and stability. A

The arms 42 are so disposed as to locate the sheave 28a in an overhanging position in which a peripheral edge portion of the sheave projects beyond the right-hand side of the upright 44 as viewed in Fig. 5. In such a position, the wire saw I0 moving in a direction from left to right, as viewed in Fig. 5, is led outwardly beyond the tea-on the arms-- 54in The disposition o i f 2 arms" 54w is so choseir as to locate a peripheral portion of the' sliea ve 3021* t'angent to a vertical axis which extends upwardly into tailgentia-l relation with the" periphery -'of the *sheave zm as shownirrl ig.

I The w-ire saw Wis passed down over'tl'i'e sliea ve 2"8'1'1" through the tubular member 46?: as shown in Figs. 6 and and is thennedoutaroundthe' lower sheave" 3th: The tubulanmemb'er" may if desired be cut away" along one side weave an opening 60 into whic'h the rim of sheave 301i can project"as'suggestedin*Fig 6? will thus be seen" that I" have provid'ed a ui'rique sheave" arrangement which there are twoslieavesboth suspendd from a co'mmonverti cal support and at least one" of which can" be swung or" pivoted in' a hihge=lile manner about a vertical axis" which" is p'arallel to" the vertical support and" tangent to peripheral portions of" both of the suspended sheaves. rangement, sheavew can berotatedabout a"- vertical' axis which" is tangent to" p'er'ipheralf portion of sheave zila'in allpositionst Itsliould" alsdbe observed-that each of" the'slieavesi'nf the preferred forms" of the invention described 1I1.-'

c'lu ties a-two point suspension feature wiiich Tmpart-s" a maximum of rigidity strengthto re- In any desired position in" which" the sheave 3521' is" oriented;- it"m'ay" be secured by means" of setscrews' 62.- Regardless of the position into" which sheave 30a is pivoted and fastened; there" willbe'aiverticalpath alonfg whichwire Himay be gnidedfrom the sheaveziidtb sheave 3im 'without beingallowed to leave either sheave atan' untrue" angle: Thisallowstheoutgoing portions of wire ID to be led ofisafelyin any. direction regardless of the change of tension, and the essential turning operation isefiicientlymarried out;

The tubular member 46a and the sleeves 49 and a constitutem preferrediform? of sheave mounting, which permits the wire Hi to run vertioallythroughthe axis of theihinged sheave. 3W1. Utherarrangements for this purpose memes-be utilized'such as shown in Fig. 8"iii whicliiaetubue lar' member lll'is'fitt'eda t its lower endiwitii-la pin lzwhicli is pivotecfin a bearing 74 adapted to be secured to the uprightfll In place of a tubular member there maybe employed a'-con-- struction such as that shown inrEigs. 12: and: 13 in: which the mounting consists of upper: and lower plates 16 and 18 supported by brackets 86. Within the plates are secured rods 82 which define a vertical passageway through which the wire saw may be run. Sheave 28a and arms 540: are swivelled about this structure in the same manner as illustrated in Fig. 1.

It will be apparent that the sheave arrangement described has the further virtue of being able to receive and safely guide a wire memher through various angles occurring in vertical planes as well as horizontal planes. Thus a wire which is led into sheave 28a from a point above this member will be constrained to conform to More'ov'er' any serious displacement of" thew n out" of the sheave" grooves' is i almost entirely *pre thetower' l2; affords a relatively wide operatin e verticalpans between sheave 2 st mat me This causes-the wire to engagefl'i mly witli tire uppei' grooved P portioir'of the sheave 28a souong as any substantial-'- bending of tl'1e-*-=wii"'e' time true witli' respect 'to the 'lowe'r' shea-ve-'3llii wh enables an operatof'td safelyraise or lower 'the outgoing portionsof the wire at' the sam'e' time thattlie wire is *turned ina horizontalplanei Another important function of the orinti" sheaves of I the invention a" supporting of t wire Ill so 5 that it isto- *very great extent pre Vented fiomf ailing away fl'oril either one" of 'tlie' two sheaves. Considering each of the" sheavestidn when not subjected to' tension':

It will beapparent that whereawire SaW'iSriiIi niiig' underaveryconsiderabletension'and soin' thing happens to modify" or terminate this rem sion, such asa break iir'tiiesaw itself orin re i sponse to a change in" position" oftli'e s'awing' sheaves; there may develop" a sudden relaxation init'ension andthere willibe'a" considerableten encyfor the wire member to whip out or line" and become disengagedfrom the sheave grooves: While it" is not contended that the-sheavear'= rangement of the invention will preverrfifiexing cf the" wire; it does tendto cushion and absorb such reactioni'in the Wire and prevent adisturb mice from being transmitted along the line? ve'ni'led and a constantuniforr'n" leadingioff oft wire" is assured. since a' change. in tension" fro either direction of 'the Sheaves does nor-anr itSfl ifi'rigf action. of the more distant sheave with the saw being constantly forced. back: into. a a vertical positionawhereit .lies in alinem'ent with the'sheave? groove:

Asz willbe" apparent from an inspection. of Fig? ,1

rangesincethe' sheave Sila -may be swungthrouglb an": arc encompassingroughly 300 assuming the"; sidesfof theba-se of the tower meet-at an: angle ($609 for' example.- Withsuch. a-rangeiof. flexibilitytaken-with the factthatthe--wlre= I0 may:

be angled upwardly or downwardly; tOTFa markedi degree, almost all practical operating? conditione can be satisfactorily dealt with.

the? same? general: connection;- it is? pointed out'that evenfgreaterrflexibility"maybe developed-i.

in a modifibation" oftower structures such" as; in dicated in' Fig. '9' in which a" tower is foi'me'di with an upright member as before to which are attached two tubular members 92 and 84 mounted one above the other for rotation about the same vertical axis and being swivelled on bearings 96, 98, and I00 in such a manner that either of the sheaves 28a or 30a may be separately pivoted about a vertical axis.

With this arrangement the entire tower structure may be rotated about a vertical axis if desired and thus allow a wire to be passed from a point above the sheaves downwardly under the lower sheave 30a (Fig. 14) and then up over the amuse sheave 28a with the latter member being swung into any desired position and fastened.

In Fig. 9 there has also been shown an additional wire guiding mechanism consisting of a V-shaped member H which is supported in spaced relation to the under side of sheave 30-11 by means of a strap I 02 secured to one of the arms 54. The position of the guide I! is chosen so that as the wire In drops away from the lowermost surface of sheave 30a, it is received in the throat of this member and thus held in a position in which it will necessarily be drawn into the groove I04 of the sheave 30a whenever tension is exerted. A similar guide may also be employed at the top of the sheave unit or other desired points.

. One of the more important applications of the sheave unit of the invention is in combination with the wire furnishing means and the sawing towers as illustrated in the drawings. The reason for this is that the region between these two devices is a somewhat critical one. Adjustments must be made here in length and tension of the wire and they necessarily must take place in many instances concurrently with the wire being flexed to follow a new course as is evident from an inspection of Fig. 3. With the increasing speeds at which the wire may be desired to bedriven, complications tend to develop which greatly affect the efllciency of the whole sawing operation.

Inserted between the sawing sheaves and the wire furnishing means therefore, the sheave unit of the invention becomes a vital link in the system, cooperating with the furnishing means on the one hand to safely turn and direct a rapidly moving wire body into almost any desired direction, and on the other hand with the sawing sheave to transmit a change in demand to the furnishing means without danger of the wire becoming disengaged from sheaves at any point along the line.

Other applications of the sheave unit of considerable importance are also possible such as in leading a wire saw from one to another of a series of points running around a quarry as sug gested in Fig. 4. Thus each of the points H0, H2, H4 for example may constitute turning points through which the saw may be guided in order to avoid the boom H6 of derrick H8 or for other reasons. The ease with which this may be accomplished is readily appreciated from the fact that the triangular type sheave tower I2 is highly portable and of relatively light construction adapted to being gathered up in a sling or other lifting medium and then transported by the derrick. Various other applications suggest themselves in this general connection.

I claim:

' 1. A wire sawing apparatus comprising a wire member, a plurality ofsheaves, formed with peripheral grooves for urging the wire into sliding contact with a surface to be sawn, shafts upon which said sheaves are mounted, means for furnishing wire to the sheaves, sheave guide means adapted to receive wire from the wire furnishing means and to guide the wire to the sawing sheaves along conveyor paths of travel, said sheave guide means including a supporting base, an upright member secured on the base, mounting means for said sheaves including superimposed, vertically and axially arranged, elongated housing bodies fixed to said upright and having elongated openings at one side thereof for receiving peripheral portions of said sheaves, one of said housings being rotatably supported by said upright, and spaced pairs of arms fixed to said housings at vertically spaced points and converging toward each of said sheave shafts, and means for supporting said shafts on adjacent pairs of spaced arms.

2. A wire sawing apparatus comprising a wire member, a plurality of sheaves formed with peripheral grooves for urging the wire into sliding contact with a surface to be sawn, means for furnishing wire to the sheaves, guide sheave means adapted to receive wire from the wire furnishing means and to guide thewire to the sawing sheaves along varying paths of travel, said guide sheave means including a supporting base, an upright member secured on the base, sheave members mounted for rotation in vertical planes, one above the other, on said upright member, said mounting means for the sheave members including elongated housings having openings at one side thereof for receiving peripheral portions of said sheaves, said housings being arranged in axial alignment with one another, means securing one of said housings to said upright for swinging movement about a vertical axis which is perpendicular to the base of the frame and which is tangent to both the upper and lower sheaves at the centers of the respective sheave grooves, arms for supporting at least one of said sheaves on its respective housing body from two spaced-apart points occurring above and below the axis of rotation of said sheave, and means for securing said swinging sheave support in adjusted position.

. WILLIAM B. HORTON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 594,542 Knobel Nov. 30, 1897. 1,155,156 Lespagnol Sept. 28, 1915 2,019,386 Benedini Oct. 29, 1935 2,351,175 Wilhelm June 13, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 98,977 Germany May 15, 1897 395,568 France Mar. 9, 1909 

